WestRun London 10k

If there’s two things we love over at The Allrounder, it’s a nice Sunday race and a good breakfast. Luckily it just so happens that the Vitality crew have decided to launch their latest run in one of our favourite breakfast locales (yeah, we still refuse to call it brunch. Not intending to change that any time soon either. Deal with it).

Fulham seldom seems to gain the same amount of attention as the areas that surround it like Putney, Hammersmith and Chelsea. Which is a bit weird as it’s a ridiculously nice part of London, one of or favourite in fact. It’s a beautiful leafy place full of little parks, nice shops, riverside pubs and, as we mentioned earlier, some pretty impressive breakfast spots.

So yeah, when we heard about the WestRun 10k we did a bit of high-fiving and started to decide where we’d go afterwards for some eggs Benedict and a latte. A bit more than was probably necessary in fact, but as we said, we love breakfast.

As November races go it was actually pretty nice weather. A little bit windy maybe but we’ve taken part in events where you’re running across frozen puddles around this time of year. A gust or two and a grey sky was more than we could have hoped for. It was looking like a good day all round.

Starting at the Eel Brook Common, the route took us up and down the various residential and central streets in and around Fulham. Most of which we’d never even been to before, which meant it was a nice chance to see a bit more of the area. In terms of landmarks there wasn’t a great deal save for the main streets and a final loop of Stamford Bridge.

As race routes go it was pretty good. As we said, Fulham is a really nice area and the streets were lined with supporters and local business coming out to cheer on the runners. If we’re being honest we would have liked another park or two added to the route, maybe even a bit that goes past the river. Because after all, the Thames path that goes down towards Putney is one of the nicest river routes in London and it seems a waste not to see it at least once. But, ho-hum, you can’t have everything. Maybe next year.

For all you PB-hounds out there wondering what the race is like for getting a fast time, well, it’s a very flat course with some nice long straights. Well worth a go next year if you’re aiming for a good time. The only thing we would say is that some of the earlier roads are pretty thin, which means that unless you’re right at the front, you may be stuck behind people for a kilometre or two.

As with all the Vitality events, the organisation is spot on. Clear signs, helpful marshals and a well placed water station along the way meant everything ticked along nicely – not easy when you’ve got almost 2,500 runners. Which leads us on to the most important thing in any race (for us), the goody bags and the medal. Well, firstly, the goody bag was full of stocked full of more food than we could eat, there was also a Whole Foods Market stall near the finish line which were giving away a frankly enormous amount of food and drink. We wandered to the tube as if we’d just done our weekly big shop.

Medal was pretty damn nice as well.

For more information on the Vitality WestRun London 10k, results and to find out about the 2016 event, head over to the website here.

Got anything to say about the Vitality WestRun London 10k? Well, don’t be shy, shoot us a Tweet, a Facebook message or just a good old-fashioned email. Hell, send us a letter if you want. We’d love to get an actual letter.

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The Allrounder is a site made by people who like fitness but like enjoying life just as much. We drink, we eat pizza and we go to bed late.
If you’re trying to find us we may be out running, we may be in the gym or we may be lying on the settee eating Kettle Chips, drinking Vimto and watching Flatliners.